Bookworm Press

Just to summarize: I was invited to take part in the Scenic/Landscape challenge by Darlene Foster. Here are the pictures of Day 4. (I actually mixed up Day 3 and Day 4, but it doesn’t really matter).

So here we go. Day 4 or 3 of the Scenic/Landscape challenge: Germany meets California: A sculpture of Goethe and Schiller, two German literary greats, in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco!

Day 5: More pictures from the beautiful Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The Japanese Garden is one of its many scenic spots.

And more to come!

I was invited by my friend and author Darlene Foster to take part in the Scenic/Landscape Challenge and post a picture a day for the next seven days. I decided to put them on my blog as well, since some of my friends may have missed them on Facebook. Here is my contribution for the first two days:

Day 1: This is a picture of my home town in Switzerland with hoarfrost and the fog snaking its way through the landscape. I thought of it because I woke up this morning in California to a foggy day.

 
Day 2: The following are pictures taken from the Botanical Garden at Berkeley of the San Francisco Bay and the gardens I visited together with my friend Susan Deming. We were surprised to find a rock with a poem by Sylvia Plath in the gardens.

To be continued!

This past week, I was in San Leandro, in the Bay area of California, visiting my friend Susan and having a good old time visiting, chatting, eating and drinking and going for walks. And during our walks and drives, we stumbled upon art and literature at unexpected places.

It started at the De Young Museum of Art in San Francisco. By chance they showed an amazing exhibition of some of my favorite painters, Botticelli, for instance.

The De Young is not only a great art museum but situated within the beautiful Golden Gate Park, it is also a place to just hang out, have lunch, or a coffee.

Susan and I at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

On the way to San Francisco and back, we passed the new Bay Bridge, which is impressive and a little scary (can’t help thinking about earthquakes). But I love the skyline of San Francisco and of course the city itself.

After all the excitement, we relaxed with a cup of coffee and a sweet. Food for the spirit and the body.

One of the next outings was to Berkeley and in particular to the Botanical Garden, a real treat! It’s an oasis of peace with a display of the most gorgeous plants and flowers.

But next to the Garden of Old Roses, there was a lovely surprise waiting for us. See further down.

Hidden underneath a canopy of leaves, a poem by Sylvia Plath carved into stone!

From the Botanical Garden, you have a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge!

Berkeley still has a selection of fine brick-and-motar bookstores. This one was another surprise: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf!

A great bookstore that still invites you to browse and hang out.

On my way back to Los Angeles on 101, I drove through Salinas and stopped for a quick look at another literary great–you guessed it. John Steinbeck lived here many years and there is a museum and a restaurant in his honor.

“Meeting” all these fantastic artists and writers inspired me to get back to my own writing. I’m polishing my next novel, The Italian Sister, which takes place in California and on a vineyard in Tuscany, Italy. More about this later!

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